BLUES FOR THE BOYS?

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The marketeers have a field day when it comes to special “calendar” occasions…. not just Christmas and Easter but Mothers’ Day, Valentine’s Day, Bonfire Night Halloween and, of course, Fathers’ Day which, we’re reliably informed is this coming Sunday – 17th June.

If you’re still looking for something for dear old dad, Universal’s UMOD label reckon they have the perfect thing…. a four CD, massive 80 track retrospective on the history of the blues…. ‘GOT THE BLUES’.

The label’s people tell us that the collection’s tunes are all “classics” and together they offer “the very best of the blues”. Well you can make up your own minds about that but for sure all the big names of the genre are there… people like Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, Big Joe Turner, Memphis Slim, BB King, Slim Harpo, T Bone Walker, Jimmy Reed, Sonny Boy Williamson and Little Walter amongst them.

However, the complier’s definition of “the blues” appears to be a little wider than what musicologists would offer. So alongside the “proper blues giants” you can enjoy music from such as Ramsey Lewis, Fontella Bass, James Brown, Fats Domino and Solomon Burke. They sit alongside rock artists like Steppenwolf and Gary Moore and there are also offerings from the mighty Bo Diddley and the equally mighty Chuck Berry. Nobody’s ever managed to pigeon-hole that duo but like everyone else mentioned the roots of their music is in the blues…. so, yes, all worthy of inclusion here.

‘Got The Blues’ would be a welcome present for any discerning dad (better than socks any day!) but it’s also a rather fine musical anthology in its own right and it’s out now